Craignethan Castle

Standing on a promontory, Craignethan is the last medieval castle to be built in
Scotland. Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, an illegitimate son of the Earl of
Arran and King James V's
Master of Works, built most of the castle in the 1530s. He was beheaded in 1540 for
treason, but his son eventually inherited his lands. Mary, Queen of Scots is
said to have spent the night there before the battle of Langside in 1568. The
garrison at Craignethan surrendered to the Regent Moray after the battle, but
Lord Claud Hamilton retook the castle, which served as a main base for Mary's
supporters until 1573. The insane 3rd Earl of Arran, who had been one of Mary's
suitors in 1561, lived there from 1575 to 1579. Craignethan was attacked in 1579
and given up without a siege. The defences were demolished and Craignethan
passed to the Hays in 1665. It was put into State care in 1949.

The outer courtyard seen above leads to the main tower house below. The tower
house was itself protected by a curtain wall on three sides, with a massively
thick rampart protecting the landward side.

Click here to see an illustration of the castle as it would have looked

From the outer courtyard, access to the main tower is by a bridge over a ditch traverse used to defend the castle. The ramparts visible in the drawing have been
knocked down and little remains of the surrounding walls.

We are now in the tower house, the main residence of Sir James Hamilton of
Finnart with accommodation for his family, his immediate household and principal
guests. This tower was revolutionary in design, being less lofty but broader and
with a split-level plan, reminiscent of the later country houses. As with all
other castles, the Hall (above) was the main room, and used for banquets as well
as important business. Above left shows one end of the Hall with an unusually
well-preserved Minstrels' Gallery, while the picture on the right is a view of
the other end standing in the section, which would have formed Sir James's
private apartment. Above the Hall were sleeping chambers, and below were cellars
for storing food and drink.

The North-East Tower above constituted the servants'
accommodation, with the rooms off the arched passageway being used for storage.
A chute opened up into this passage to deliver all the waste from the main tower
above.

The name "Caponier" derives from the Italian "capannata",
meaning a little hut. The prototype was apparently invented by an Italian
engineer, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, shortly before 1500 and perfected by
Albrecht Durer in the 1520s. This is undoubtedly the best preserved in the
British Isles and formed part of Hamilton of Finnart's defensive scheme. It was
intended to be used to hinder close assault, but the field of fire was
restricted and the lack of ventilation meant that each volley of fire was
accompanied by suffocating gunpowder smoke. It soon became obsolete and was
replaced by the walled traverse at the far end of the ditch.